EVEN IF YOU SWALLOW,,,, CRIME DOESN’T PAY

A 43 year old Venezuelan mother of three, who attempted to smuggle more than $1.1 million in cocaine by ingesting it, was on Monday sentenced to a four year prison term by Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Blake.

Mandalia Acosta Andreas, a resident of Nigera, was sentenced after pleading guilty in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, to three charges of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

She also pleaded guilty to making a false declaration to Customs and Excise officials and entering T&T with prohibited goods.

Andreas, who walks with a cane due to a leg injury, was arrested on November 17, last year, after arriving in Trinidad on the Sea Prowler vessel which docks at Pier One, Chaguaramas.

She was discovered by Customs officers in the washroom of the ship, while swallowing plastic pellets containing cocaine.

Andreas was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where she excreted the pellets which weighed 2.32 kilos.